Thai forces 'kill 38 Cambodian loggers in six months'

AFP – 08/14/2012

Thai forces shot dead 38 Cambodians in the first half of this year for illegally crossing the border to log for valuable timber, according to the Cambodian authorities.

A further 10 Cambodians were injured in incidents with Thai border forces and 194 were arrested, though not all of them on suspicion of illegal logging, the Cambodia-Thailand Border Relations Office said in a report dated August 12.

The number of fatalities dwarfs the toll last year when around 11 alleged Cambodian loggers were reported killed over a 12-month period, according to statistics collected by local rights group ADHOC.

Nicolas Agostini, a technical assistant at ADHOC, blamed the spike in deaths on a growing number of frontier residents willing to risk their lives to escape poverty.

More Cambodians shot by Thai troops

Thai soldiers (Photo: Reuters)

Tuesday, 14 August 2012
Phak Seangly
The Phnom Penh Post

Four Cambodians allegedly lugging timber across the country’s northwestern border have been shot dead by Thai soldiers in just eight days.

Reach Raim, 37, and 17-year-old Dy Yem had been gunned down last Wednesday in the forests of Thailand’s Sisaket province after allegedly trying to smuggle timber into Cambodia, Tuoch Ra, chief of the Cambodian-Thai border communications team at Chaom Sagnam International Border Crossing, said yesterday.

Five days earlier, two Cambodian soldiers accused of smuggling illegally logged timber were shot dead by Thai soldiers about five kilometres inside Thailand’s Surin province.

“We are not sure whether they were loggers or not, because they are dead already. They could have been framed,” Ra said.

“The Thais claimed they had shot them just to protect themselves, because the Khmers had weapons,” he said, adding that the Thai soldiers had claimed the victims were brandishing arms.

Thai soldiers kill 38 Cambodian illegal loggers in 6 months: report

Thai border soldiers (Photo: BBC)

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Thirty-eight Cambodian people had been shot dead by Thai armed forces during the first six months of this year when they crossed border to log in Thai territory, according to a report of Cambodia-Thailand Border Relation Office released to the media on Tuesday.

The report, signed by Brigadier General Pich Vanna, chief of Cambodia-Thailand Border Relation Office on Aug. 12, added that besides the dead, 10 others were wounded, 194 were imprisoned, and one is still missing.

It said that, during the January-June period this year, Thai authority had also arrested and deported 68,659 Cambodian illegal crossers back to Cambodia.

Cambodia shares more than 800-kilometer border with Thailand to the north and west.

Cambodia urges Thai troops not to shoot illegal border crossers

PHNOM PENH, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday urged Thai soldiers not open fire on Cambodian villagers who illegally cross border for jobs in Thailand, saying the shooting is an "inhuman act against Cambodian villagers," said the ministry in a letter to the Thai Embassy here.

The complaint letter came after the latest accident on May 2 when Thai soldiers shot at a group of Cambodian villagers who crossed the border into Thailand looking for jobs in Sakeo province, killing a 31 year-old man named Sam Ream.

"It is another inhuman act against Cambodian villagers, in addition to five other such accidents that have occurred, since January this year," the ministry said.

Another Cambodian shot near Thai border

Thursday, 03 May 2012
Mom Kunthea
The Phnom Penh Post

Authorities are investigating the death of a 31-year-old Cambodian man who was gunned down near the Thai-Cambodian border by Thai soldiers early yesterday morning, a border official said.

Pich Vanna, deputy chief of the Cambodian-Thai Border Relations Office, said the shooting occurred in the Thai border province of Sa Kaeo.

“Sam Ream, 31, a worker, was shot dead at 3am and his body is now being kept at the hospital in Sa Kaeo province,” he said.

Pich Vanna said the victim had been with another man, but it was unclear whether they had been close to the border when Thai soldiers shot at them. He added that Cambodian officials were investigating Sam Ream’s death and working with Thai officials to determine why soldiers had shot him.

Thais return loggers’ bodies

Tuesday, 24 April 2012
Tep Nimol
The Phnom Penh Post

The bodies of two Cambodians shot by Thai soldiers while allegedly illegally logging luxury wood across the border were repatriated yesterday, while 10 others who were arrested remained in custody in Thailand, an official has said.

Pich Vanna, deputy chief of the Cambodian-Thai Border Relation Office, said the bodies of the victims – one was subsequently discovered after early reports had only one dead – were sent back yesterday across the border at Preah Vihear province’s Choum Ksan district.

“The dead bodies of Cambodian men arrived on Monday afternoon at the Anses checkpoint in Cambodia [to send to the] site for the traditional funeral,” he said.

The men were shot when Thai forces opened fire on more than 100 Cambodians allegedly logging rosewood in Ubon Ratchathani province on Saturday.

“Sometimes they are provokers, and when [Thai soldiers] shoot, it is difficult to blame them...": Hun Khmoach

Does Hun Xen work for the Siamese now?

(Photo by: Pha Lina)

Hun Sen puts onus on loggers

Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

Nearly 30 Cambodians have been shot dead while illegally crossing the Thai border since 2008, with many headed there for the purpose of illegal logging. Yesterday, Prime Minister Hun Sen said they have only themselves to blame.

Speaking at the opening of national road 62 in Preah Vihear province yesterday, Hun Sen called those crossing the border to illegally log “provokers” and said it was difficult to blame the soldiers who shot them. He also warned armed forces commanders and civilians involved in illegal logging, both in Cambodia and across the border, that the Anti-Corruption Unit would investigate them if they didn’t cease their activities.

“They have not only cut Khmer timber, [they] have also entered to cut Thai timber until [Thai soldiers] have shot and killed them. We must dare to admit that our Khmer entered to cut Thai timber,” Hun Sen said.

“Sometimes they are provokers, and when [Thai soldiers] shoot, it is difficult to blame them, because [the victims] have gone to provoke". (sic!)

Another Cambodian shot dead in Thailand

Thursday, 01 December 2011
Phak Seangly
The Phnom Penh Post

Another Cambodian illegally logging in Thailand was shot dead on Tuesday, making him at least the fourth to be killed while felling trees in Cambodia’s western neighbour this month alone.

Chi Sophal, deputy chief of the Cambodian-Thai border communication team at O’Smach International Border Crossing in Oddar Meachey province, said 22-year-old Tun Kimsan was shot in the head at about 4pm on Tuesday.

“The deceased’s family is very poor. They do not even have land to do farming, so he took a risk to log, even though the authorities warned the villagers not to enter the forest to log,” he said.

Srey Naren, Oddar Meanchey provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, said Tun Kimsan was shot in the ear after he crossed the border with four boys aged between 10 and 14.

Thais ‘refuse to return dead Cambodians’

Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Phak Seangly and Cheang Sokha and additional reporting by David Boyle
The Phnom Penh Post

Thai authorities have refused to give families back the bodies of three Cambodians shot while allegedly logging illegally in Thailand, instead deciding to cremate them, the father of one of the deceased said yesterday.

Police said yesterday three men from Samrong town’s Bansay Reak commune in Oddar Meanchey province were shot one week ago in Thailand.

Chan Try, 62, the father of 32-year-old victim Try Sambo, said when he went to Thailand yesterday to retrieve his dead son, Thai soldiers said they had wanted to burn the body first.

“They showed us the picture of the corpse and I could recognise that my son was killed,” he said. “Thai soldiers said they wanted to burn them in Thailand. We want to take the body for cremation in Cambodia and to hold a funeral ceremony.”

Six missing after border shooting

Monday, 28 November 2011
Cheang Sokha and Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

Police and military officials were searching for six missing Cambodians yesterday who villagers believe were shot dead by Thai soldiers on Saturday night after entering the Khun Han district of Thailand’s Si Saket province in search of luxury timber.

Neth Hing, who lives in Oddar Meanchey’s Trapaing Prasath district, told the Post that 13 people showed up at her doorstep yesterday morning, telling her they were survivors of a group of 19 Cambodians who had entered Thailand via the Thmor Pres border crossing.

“They came to [my home] this morning about 11:00. They fled because of shooting; they said that six people died,” Neth Hing said. “They said this [while] they were sitting [at my house].”

Speaking with the Post yesterday evening, Keo San, police chief of Trapaing Prasat district, confirmed that the shooting had occurred but could not confirm if the six in question had been killed.

Three more loggers slain along Thai border area

Friday, 25 November 2011
Phak Seangly
The Phnom Penh Post

Three Cambodian loggers shot to death by Thai soldiers on Monday have still not been repatriated to Cambodia, families of the deceased and police officials said yesterday.

The loggers, who had allegedly illegally crossed the border at Oddar Meanchey into Thailand, entered the forest on Saturday and never returned, border-commune police chief Luch Soy told the Post.

The families alerted authorities yesterday, concerned about the missing threesome. Local police contacted Thai border police and discovered the three men had been shot dead on Monday and the corpses were being held by the Thai authorities.

“The corpses are being examined at a hospital in Thailand, and we do not know when we will get these corpses back,” Cambodian-Thai border communication deputy chief Chi Sophal said.

Adhoc asks Thailand to investigate the case of the killing of Khmer citizens

22 March 2011
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Soch

The Adhoc human rights group asked the Thai government national human rights committee to investigate the case of the shootings and killings of Cambodian loggers by Thai soldiers along the Khmer-Thai border. Chan Sovet, an official for Adhoc, indicated that the Adhoc report to be sent to the Thai human rights committee is not completed yet, but that 52 cases of shooting on Khmer citizens by Thai soldiers were noted, among these 27 were injured, 17 were killed and 12 disappeared. These shootings were recorded during a period spanning between July 2008 and March 2011. Chan Sovet said that this is a positive step to push the Thai soldiers to stop shooting on Cambodian citizens. He hoped that Adhoc will send this request to the Thai national human rights committee this week or next week.

Hun Sen shuns UN mediation [... so does Abhisit!]

10/01/2011
Bangkok Post

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen says no one, including the United Nations, can intervene in the case of the seven Thai detainees, and insists only the Cambodian court will decide their fate, according to a report published by China's People's Daily News online.

"There are many comments these days, and also a publication said yesterday that Thaksin [Shinawatra] or the Puea Thai Party want to intervene into the case of the seven arrested Thais," Mr Hun Sen said during a graduation ceremony at the Vanda Institute in Phnom Penh on Monday, the daily's English service reported.

"I just confirm that no one can intervene in the judicial system, neither the government, nor foreigners, or Cambodians.

"I tell them that it is impossible, no matter which path you enter from, even from the United Nations, because the case is now under the full authority of the Cambodian court, which must be respected."

[Thai] Army denies killing Cambodians [-Thai soldiers are not only at good at shooting Cambodians, they are also good at denying as well!]

10/01/2011
Bangkok Post

Second Army chief Thawatchai Samutsakhon denied a report that Thai soldiers killed innocent Cambodians on Sunday, saying the troops were only protecting a wildlife refuge in Si Sa Ket which has been encroached upon by illegal loggers.

He said on Monday the soldiers retaliated after an unidentified group of trespassers ignored their warnings and fired shots at them.

The clash erupted when the soldiers spotted and challenged the strangers while patrolling Phanom Dongrak Wildlife Sanctuary in Khun Han district in Si Sa Ket, which borders Cambodia.

Lt-Gen Thawatchai was reacting to a report that Cambodian authorities intend to send a photo of Cambodians killed by Thai soldiers to the Thai government.

Thai soldiers returned to the scene of the clash in the forest this morning and found chainsaws and evidence of trees being cut. They did not see any injured or dead people, the lieutenant-general said.

Suthep denies report Thai soldiers killed Cambodians at border; awaiting court verdict on seven Thais

BANGKOK, Jan 10 (MCOT online news) -- Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban on Monday denied a report that Thai soldiers killed 20 Cambodians at the border in the northeastern province of Si Sa Ket, awaiting a Cambodian court's verdict on seven Thais detained in Phnom Penh since last month.

Mr Suthep said the government was trying its best to help the seven Thai nationals detained on Dec 29 as they inspected the Thai-Cambodian border in Sa Kaeo province adjacent to Cambodian province of Banteay Meanchey.

The deputy premier said Thailand is pulling out all the stops through all legal means to secure the release of all those seven.

He said he would not comment on the issue as it might not help the case.

Logger alleged killed by Thai border patrol

Sunday, 09 January 2011
Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post

One Cambodian man was killed and another wounded after they were caught logging illegally across the border in Thailand, officials said Sunday, the latest in a spate of such shootings by Thai security forces.

Dy Phen, director of the border relations office in Banteay Meanchey province, said the pair were part of a group of seven loggers from Thma Puok district who came under fire from troops in Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province on Friday.

The group then bore the injured back to Cambodia without being apprehended or informing the Cambodian authorities, he added.

“The body was returned to the man’s family members on the same day as the shooting,” Dy Phen said. “They didn’t report to local authorities because they were afraid we would investigate their case and ask them who encouraged them to go to Thailand.”

Thai soldiers shooting on 11 Cambodians, 1 died

08 January 2011
By Sok Sophalmony
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Thai soldiers shot on 11 Cambodians, causing 1 death and 1 injured, while these Cambodians were crossing the border from Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province to work as wood loggers in Tapraya district, Sakaeo province, Thailand.

Vat Han, the Banteay Chhmar commune chief, located in Thmor Puok district, Banteay Meanchey province, reported that Cambodian border defense troops have indicated that Thai soldiers shot on Cambodians in the morning of 07 January.

Vat Han added: “The information indicated that there was a fatal injury: one dead among the 11 villagers, 7 of whom come from my village. They left q from our village, Dangrek village, and they went to border post 27, then they cross the border post to enter Thai territories. The information indicated that they went to log wood in Thailand and the Thai troops surrounded them and shot them.”

The cost of a Cambodian life to the Siam is: $927 (30,000 baths)

Thailand recognizes its mistake in the shooting and killing of a Cambodian citizen

29 June 2010
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

An Saray, chairman of the Cambodia-Thailand liaison in Phnom Dey pass, located in Sampov Loun district, Battambang province, told Koh Santepheap in the morning of 28 June that Thailand recognized its mistake in the shooting on Cambodian civilians that caused the death of one man last week. He indicated that Thailand paid 30,000 baths ($927) in compensation to the family of the victim after it sent back the victim’s body to Cambodia on 24 June. One Cambodian citizen among a group of 4 men is suspected of being shot and killed by Thai black-clad soldiers when they went to Thailand to smuggle motorcycles back to Cambodia. The victim, 44-year-old Dim Doeur, lived in Trapaing Prolit village, Santepheap commune, Sampov Loun district, Battambang province. The other 3 men escaped safely back to Cambodia. An Saray said that even though these Cambodian men crossed the border illegally, Thailand still shouldn’t use weapons to shoot and kill them like this because it is contrary to the agreement concluded between the two countries whereby no shooting or torture should be inflicted on people illegally crossing the border.

Thai troops shot 4 Cambodian men and killed one

24 June 2010
By Suon Sophalmony
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Thai black-clad soldiers shot on 4 Cambodian men, killing one of them in the evening of 23 June, when the men were returning back home from work in Thailand and they were looking for snails in the forest to eat.

The shooting took place in Teak San village in Klonghat district, Sakaew province, Thailand, about 200-meter from the river delimiting the border, next to the Kaun Phnom pass, in front of Trapaing Prolit village, Santepheap commune, Sampov Loun district, Battambang province in Cambodia.

37-year-old Ek Ra who lives in Trapaing Prolit village indicated on Thursday morning: “I returned back from work in Thailand … On our return, I walked with 4 people, then we collected snails in the forest to cook and eat. After we collected a small bagful, about one kilogram, then we continued walking when the Thai soldiers yelled at us to stop and to sit down. The fellow who walked in the front was about to sit down, I did not sit down yet when they shot us, then I ran! I thought we could all escape, but the victim – Dim Doeur – was shot twice: once on his right calf and the other on his right shoulder.”

Another man who was also shot by the Thai black-clad soldiers added: “We were collecting snails to cook. We only left the road by a little bit, and we came out of the stream when we met them! I was in front, they ordered us to sit down. I sat down, when I was on the right hand side, they shot the fellows in the back, so I ran! When we ran, they pursued us and they shot me twice but they missed me.”

44-year-old Dim Doeur was shot and killed by the Thai black-clad soldiers, the other 3 men – 37-year-old Ek Ra, 23-year-old Phon Ravuthea and 39-year-old Yav Yong – escaped death. They all live in Trapaing Prolit village, Santepheap commune, Sampov Loun district, Battambang province.

The Thai side and the group of Thai black-clad soldiers who are accused of the shooting above could not be reached.

An Saray, the Cambodian border liaison official in the region, indicated that the Cambodian authority intervened with the Thai side regarding this shooting, but all that the Thai side did was to express their regret only.

An Saray indicated that Cambodia will complain to the Thai side and will demand that the shooting culprit be apprehended and brought to face justice according to the law: “On my end, I am telling the victim’s family to prepare a complaint to send to me so I can send to the border liaison office to complain to the Thai side about this shooting and killing.”

Yin Meng Ly, an official of the Adhoc human rights organization, condemned the shooting by Thai troops on Khmer villagers: “This is a very inhumane action that should stop! Even if the Cambodian villagers went there illegally to do something there, they should not be shot at and killed!”

Yin Meng Ly asked the Cambodian ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and the Cambodian government to intervene with Thailand to bring to justice the Thai black-clad soldiers involved.

Koy Kuong, MoFA spokesman, could not be reached regarding this shooting case.

The body of 44-year-old Dim Doeur was delivered to his family in Trapaing Prolit villagers for his final rite, after the Sa Kaew hospital was not able to save his life.

Group Reports 10 Killings Along Thai Border

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
24 February 2010

Thailand is denying claims its border authorities have been shooting and killing Cambodians.

The rights group Adhoc reported Wednesday that an investigation found at least 10 Cambodians fatally shot on the Thai border in the past two years, including a 6-year-old boy.

Thai spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn dismissed the findings of the report, telling VOA Khmer from Bangkok that Thailand has 100,000 Cambodians living peacefully in the country.

Cambodia has sent several official requests to Thailand to investigate allegations of killings, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.